MF 135 will not crank

Anonymous-0 · Dec 14, 2013

I have a MF 135 gas burner we are trying to get running, it seems to
not be firing, Carb has just been rebuilt, and fuel flow seems to be
good, but it will turn over but will not crank. Seems like it is not
firing. Any ideas?

trac · Dec 14, 2013

Not sure what you mean not firing & won't turn over? Where the batt. cable runs to solenoid clean them good can you jump the starter with battery cables? Sometimes where the starter motor bolts to the bell housing needs to be clean for a good ground.

old · Dec 14, 2013

First lets get your terms worked out. Turn over or crank to most mean the same thing
So your saying the engine crank shaft spins when you hit the ignition switch but it does not fire up and so the engine does not run. Right???
You need to check spark at the center wire on the cap. The spark need to be a blue/white in color and jump a 1/4 inch gap or more. Next you need to check that spark at all the plug wires and it to needs to be the blue/white and jump a 1/4 inch gap.
No spark or weak spark means you need to clean and or replace the points.

Phil Tibbetts · Dec 14, 2013

I've had the battery post clamp crack and give me problems.

old · Dec 14, 2013

If you read what he says it cannot be a battery cable problem since he does say it turns over but yes the way he explains it, it can be hard to understand what he is trying to say

gbs · Dec 14, 2013

check for current at the wire coming from the ign. switch to the coil,if thats working remove coil wire from dist. cap hold it 1/4" from engine block spin engine over check for spark it should blue to white,if not check dist. wiring and points ,if spark is ok remove a plug wire form a plug check for spark same as coil ,no spark check rotor button and dist. cap for problems,spark ok check for wet spark plugs,next is compression,timing and don't over look dead gasoline if the tractor has been sitting with gas in the tank for a long time

Anonymous-0 · Dec 14, 2013

Thanks for the responses. I have checked the coil and I am getting the blue to white spark, so that is good. I have confirmed I am getting good fuel flow (however I continue to have problems with gas pouring our of the carb), I have had the carb rebuilt, had the float checked, I am told the carb is fine but problem still persist. So I am getting spark to the plugs. I have cleaned the plugs so they are not fouled. I am not a mechanic so I am not sure how to check timing, I will probably need to find a shop mechanic for that.

Anonymous-0 · Dec 14, 2013

To answer your question yes. The crank will turn over when I hit the ignition but it will not crank. Tractor has not been sitting, it was in use every weekend until about 3 weeks ago, I was working with it, it just died and I have not been able to figure out what happened or why yet.

old · Dec 14, 2013

Again you need to work on your terms. Crank or turn over is one in the same thing. It cranks over and turns over but does not start. Good chance you do not have any spark so you need to trouble shoot lack of spark. Which I told you how in my first post. Good chance you have bad points or a loose wire. One way to check for a loose wire is simple. Run a wire from the ignition side of the battery to the ignition side of the coil and try to start it. If it starts then the problem if from the coil back to the battery. If it still does not start the problem is in the distributor

s19438 · Dec 15, 2013

the float is not set right regardless of the carb rebuild.

2tractors · Dec 15, 2013

I"d check the oil for fuel. If the breather is on tight then it will fill the engine. To get it to crank I"d cut off the fuel, let it sit for 20 minutes, then crank it without the choke and turn on the fuel.

old · Dec 15, 2013

Sounds like you maybe choking it way to much and have the plugs gas fouled. If the plugs are wet from gas they are in fact flowed. Try this. Turn the gas off. Pull the carb drain plug. Put the plug back in. Turn the gas on and count to say 50. Turn the gas back off and try to start it. DO not choke it. Do you still get gas running out of the carb?? Post back what happens.By the way if it starts you can turn the gas on real fast and go do some work

Anonymous-0 · Dec 21, 2013

I tried this. I have had the float adjusted and it still allowed gas to pour out the carb. turned gas on for 50 seconds, turned gas off still did it.

However I think I have a found a bigger problem. I have found today that I am not getting fire to the plugs. I am getting fire from the coil, but not to the spark plugs. Today I replaced the points, replaced the button and put a brand new coil, but still no fire to the spark plugs.

old · Dec 21, 2013

#1 stop throwing parts at it trouble shoot first.
#2 remove the cap and rotor and if it has it the dust cover. Make sure the points are closed. Turn on the ignition. Carefully open and close the points by hand. Watch for a spark at the points. No spark point dirty or set wrong. If you have spark there then put the cap and dust cover and rotor back on and check for spark at all 4 plug wires. It need to be a blue/white spark that jumps a 1/4 inch gap or more. If you had spark at the point but none at the plug wires that means the rotor or cap are bad.
By the way coils almost NEVER go bad

Anonymous-0 · Dec 21, 2013

How do I set the float and how to do I know when I have it set correctly. I have even drained the carb of gas, turned the gas on for 50 sec, turn off then try to crank and still had gas run out the carb.

Thanks for your advice.

Anonymous-0 · Dec 21, 2013

During the process of new parts today, I also installed a new rotor button, the only thing I did not replace was the cap, but I am not getting any fire at the plugs, so based on your advice it seems the rotor cap or plug wires may be the problem, the plugs wires look fairly new, the rotor cap does not appear to be very old either. Today I did attempt to clean the rotor cap with sandpaper but that did not have any impact still no fire at the plugs. I have confirmed that I am getting spark through the points. The old points were sticking is the main reason for replacing. The dust cover had a hole in it where like something had burned through it. But still no fire to the plugs after cleaning the rotor cap contacts.

Inno · Dec 21, 2013

Pull the center wire off the distributor, hold it (the end you just pulled from the dist. cap) 1/4" to 1/2" away from a good ground. Reach around and crank (turn over) the engine or have someone do it for you and check for spark. If you are getting sufficient spark it should easily jump a 1/2" gap. This means that your points and condensor are working sufficiently well. If that test turns out ok and you are still not getting spark to the plugs, replace the distributor cap and rotor. But perhaps before doing that you might want to try some new plugs if you haven't already. It would be strange for them all to be bad but who knows.
With ignition problems, they all pretty much work the same on anything with points. You just need to narrow it down one step at a time. It shouldn't be too hard to troubleshoot without throwing a bunch of parts at it to get to where it will work.

Inno · Dec 21, 2013

Oh, and as far as the terminology goes, here it is as I understand it:
Turning over - you hit the start button or key and the engine spins normally

Cranking - same as turning over, hit the start button or key and the engine spins normally

Firing - Making popping noises with some exhaust visible. If not running but popping, could be too little fuel, timing out of spec., low compression, too much fuel although that would normally result in very dark or black exhaust which smells "rich" with fuel.

Running or Firing up - pretty much self explanatory. Once it's running you can make adjustments to fuel mixture and timing.

old · Dec 21, 2013

Well I can tell you how to make sure you have a bad distributor cap but if you do it you will not like me LOL The only sure way I know to tell if a cap is bad is try to start it and at the same time hold the cap. If you jump 10 feet you know the cap is bad and has cracks in it which the human eye can not see. Or if you want the other way which may work but not 100% sure is you spray the inside of the cap with starter fluid and let dry. If you then see lines in the cap then your seeing the cracks which are in turn shorting out the spark

Inno · Dec 21, 2013

(quoted from post at 23:13:31 12/21/13) Well I can tell you how to make sure you have a bad distributor cap but if you do it you will not like me LOL The only sure way I know to tell if a cap is bad is try to start it and at the same time hold the cap. If you jump 10 feet you know the cap is bad and has cracks in it which the human eye can not see.

Hehehe........everyone should do that at least once in their life.

old · Dec 21, 2013

Ya teaches a person real fast how to find a problem the easy way but then boy oh boy does it hurt but hey finds the problem. Still remember the first time I di that. 1971 GMC pick up. 250-6. My dad had problems with it all the time on wet days. He took itto 20 4 places and they could not find it. At one place I stopped by on my way to ?? and grabbed the distributor cap as some one was turning it over. Sure enough I found the problem. The place then wanted to charge my dad $$ for finding the problem. My dad said he would pay for the parts and the time to install but any more then the would have to pay me $25 and hour for finding what they did not

Anonymous-0 · Dec 22, 2013

I found a crack in the distributor cap, so I will order a new cap and hopefully this will fix the problems. Thanks for the help in trouble shooting.

old · Dec 22, 2013

So did you find it by test method #1 or #2??

Anonymous-0 · Dec 23, 2013

kinda Method #2 how I really found it was while preparing to try option 2 I found a hairline crack, could not make myself do #1, and could not find a volunteer. I hope this is the problem and it will run after this. I appreciate the help and advise.

old · Dec 23, 2013

True story. Years ago my dad had a 1972 GMC pick up. In wet weather he had problems with it not starting or running well. He took it to a good number of shops and no one could find the problem. So at the last shop he took it to I was there and the guy started it up but it was running poorly. I grabbed the distributor cap and got the $^&$^%& zapped out of me. I said it was a bad cap. They replace the cap and the problem went away. Well they tried to charge my dad for finding the problem and the parts. My dad said well if that is the case you own my son and he said XX amount but they did not like what he said so he said well it is this or court

MF 135 will not crank

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